(Teleborsa) – Employment in the United States experienced a sharp slowdown in May, with job growth just a quarter of what was expected. An unexpected deterioration not signaled by the ADP report published yesterday and by the good data on layoffs.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, non-farm payrolls rose by just 38 units, well below analysts' expectations, which had expected growth of 164 units. 123 jobs had been created in April, revised down from 160 in the preliminary reading.
Employment in the manufacturing sector fell by 10, but did not compensate for the 13 increase registered in the public sector.
However, the unemployment rate fell to 4,7% from 5% the previous month, falling below the 4,9% expected. The number of total unemployed fell from 7,9 million to 7,4 million.
Lastly, average hourly wages rose by 0,2% after +0,5% in April, meeting market expectations.
At this point, the question remains as to what the Federal Reserve will do in the coming months, given that Janet Yellen had anticipated a possible upward adjustment of rates, based on the improvement in the labor market.
The Stock Exchanges slipped after the publication of the Job Report, signaling a greater pessimism of operators, while the dollar depreciated, making the euro go back up to 1,1273 USD (+1%).
At the opening, the main Wall Street indices are in red: the Dow Jones loses 0,5% like the S&P 500. -0,6% for the Nasdaq.
